Panhandle Dodges Defense Cuts

Some Bases Even Benefit From Changes

TALLAHASSEE — At a time when the national defense is shrinking, the Florida Panhandle is flexing its military muscle.

The first round of base realignments last year left the region's four major military installations nearly unscathed and in some instances actually better off, local officials said.

Heading into the next round of base reductions in early 1993, officials are cautious but upbeat about the future of the Panhandle's economic engine.

''As things have restructured across the nation, it appears (northwest Florida) has actually grown,'' said Bob Richburg, president of Okaloosa-Walton Community College, which has two centers at Eglin Air Force Base and counts on military personnel for 14 percent of its 6,500-student enrollment. ''It's the biggest economic impact on the area.''

The military's presence in the Panhandle is felt along a 110-mile stretch on the Gulf Coast from the huge shipyards at the Pensacola Naval Air complex in the western tip of the state to Tyndall Air Force Base just east of Panama City. In between is Eglin, the nation's largest Air Force installation, and Hurlburt Field, the rapidly expanding headquarters for the Air Force's special operations.

More than 50,000 military and civilian personnel work at the region's bases, whose effect is estimated from about $2 billion to $2.5 billion annually. Those figures do not include the tens of thousands of military retirees who live in th region or thousands of employees who work for contractors connected with the bases.

Among the major Panhandle installations, Hurlburt is expanding the most. As a result, the base could remain relatively unaffected by future defense cuts.

Between 1989 and 1994, the federal government will spend more than $132 million on construction at Hurlburt, which is on Eglin's sprawling complex. Military and civilian employment at Hurlburt is expected to increase from about 7,000 to almost 8,000 by the end of 1993, said Capt. Joe LaMarca, the installation's spokesman.

''Our growth is phenomenal. We're one of the few bases continuing to grow,'' LaMarca said. ''Although the Air Force is downsizing, the mission of the Air Force remains the same. To fly and train and respond when necessary.''

Officials believe Eglin itself will hold its own in future base realignments because of its sheer size, location on the Gulf of Mexico and its role as the Air Force's primary testing ground for non-nuclear weapons, electronic combat systems and navigation/guidance systems.

''Eglin seems to be in a pretty good position to hold onto what it's got and pick up smaller units that are reorganizing,'' said Jim Breitenfeld, executive director of the Okaloosa County Economic Development Council in Fort Walton Beach.

The base's 724-square-mile land mass is more than half the size of Rhode Island and it covers 86,500 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico, an area slightly larger than Idaho.

In one of the major projects at Eglin, the Air Force will spend $64 million upgrading the base's climatic lab during the next two years, base spokesman Capt. Andy Roake said.

At Tyndall, which trains F-15 jet fighter pilots, employment increased by about 200 after the first round of base realignments, said Lt. Brian Hubbard, the base's spokesman. Tyndall lost the Air Defense Command last year but picked up the 1st Air Force, which was moved from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and brought 90 officers with it.

Elsewhere in Panama City, the Coastal Systems Station, a Navy unit that conducts research and development into mines, was reorganized last year and lost 200 positions. But none of those positions will be cut until 1995. Local officials feared that the Navy station, which employs about 3,300, would be closed last year and paid a Washington lobbying company $50,000 in their fight to keep it.

''We're pleased with the way the first round went,'' said Frank Bacen, executive vice president of the Bay County Chamber of Commerce in Panama City.

Among the Panhandle installations, the Pensacola Naval Air complex has been affected the most by defense cutbacks, but local economic development and chamber officials think the losses can be offset with operations from other base restructurings. The complex includes the Pensacola Naval Air Station and Corry, Saufley and NAS Whiting Fields.

For instance, last year the Navy decommissioned the USS Lexington, a World War II carrier stationed in Pensacola with about 1,400 sailors. It was replaced this year by the USS Forrestal with about 2,000 sailors.

''We're losing a few here and picking up a few someplace else,'' said Frank Tamberrino, executive vice president of economic development for the Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce.

Still, the Navy complex has seen the number of new pilots decline by about 25 percent and total personnel drop by several hundred. Local officials are concerned about losing the helicopter training that takes place at NAS Whiting in the next round of cuts.